Based on our work with undergraduate interdisciplinary design teams, we have developed methods which will enable you to treat computing “as a material.” Whether your already familiar or not with programming, you’ll learn how to create interactive prototypes.

Designed for those will little or no experience, through hands on instruction and demonstration, you’ll be introduced to a visual programming language called Scratch, and the Arduino hardware platform. You’ll develop prototypes that respond to light, sound, and motion.

After working through examples, you’ll have the opportunity to build prototypes of your choice that use a variety of sensors, motors, LEDs, and actuators from our hardware library.

You bring a laptop, we’ll bring the Arduino, sensors and actuators. You’ll take away a USB drive with Scratch, previous project examples and data sheets, and a link to our website.

21 participants maximum. You’ll be put into groups of no more than 3.

This workshop will provide an easy to use and understand method for creating interactive prototypes. The methods and tools used are free, and open source, and can be deployed in your office or your classroom.

Acknowledgement: This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. EEC-0935103. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.